


i have loved you since we were eighteen

by cherryhwa



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: "I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD" "WTF YOU IDIOT IM ALIVE", 300 years of pining and mourning sigh, M/M, Mild Angst with a happy ending, Siren Yeosang, Vampire Wooyoung, but also vvvvv fluffy, character death with resurrection kind of, childhood friends because we love that, everyone hates twilight, lowk a crack fic ngl, no one dies okay, second first kisses, seongjoong are here too, they die in a kinda dumb way, very belated confessions, wooyoung is dramatic as hell, yeosang is tired of wooyoung's shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26743246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryhwa/pseuds/cherryhwa
Summary: "i thought you were DEAD.""wooyoung, do i LOOK like i'm dead?"alternatively,it's been 300 years since yeosang died, but wooyoung is still so goddamn in love with him all these years later
Relationships: Jung Wooyoung/Kang Yeosang
Comments: 8
Kudos: 126





	i have loved you since we were eighteen

**Author's Note:**

> hi so it’s 4am so i’m gonna make this quick. pretty much this came from the idea of “waiting a long time for your lover” (shout out to mdzs and tgcf !!), vampire wooyoung, and the concept of “YOU IDIOT OF COURSE I’M ALIVE”. anyways college is currently kicking my ass so i had motivation (read: procrastination) to finish this. please note i’ll probably come back and edit this a little when i’m more coherent. k thanks bye love you all ~
> 
> \- title from one direction’s ‘18’

Wooyoung likes to think he’s not a stereotypical vampire.

You know, the brooding, dark, sexy emo kind that prey on high school girls and act like they’re still living back in the era they turned. Yes, he’s talking about that stupid movie that’s plunged all of his kind into a dark, dark hole of no return. 

“You _are_ Edward Cullen.” San stresses, and Wooyoung just growls at him, huddling further into the worn leather sofa in their home.

“Am not.”

“Yeah, look at you.” San perches on the end of the sofa, grinning so widely that Wooyoung wonders if he can move fast enough to punch his teeth in (San’s always been faster than Wooyoung, despite both of them having the superhuman reflexes that come with the lovely life of vampirism). “You’re doing that sulky emo brooding thing again, all you need is the sparkly skin to complete the look.”

“Fuck _off_.” Wooyoung whines, hurling a pillow at San. The other easily catches it.

“Why is it always today?” San asks, twirling the pillow in his hand. “Every day for the past two hundred and fifty years I’ve known you, you always get like this before, after, and on June 20th. And you refuse to tell me.”

Wooyoung’s about to throw a sassy remark back, when the front door opens and the air is flooded with the scent of sterilized hospital. He gags instead.

“I know, Wooyoung.” Wooyoung knows Seonghwa rolls his eyes before he even looks. “You don’t like ‘hospital smell’. But hey, now we’re stocked for another six months at least.”

“Don’t talk to him.” San’s tone is utterly sarcastic. “He’s June twentieth-ing.”

“Oh shit, is that today?” Hongjoong, Seonghwa’s life mate, husband, ex-boyfriend, whatever you want to call it, says with the kind of tone you use when you forget someone’s birthday. “Damn, we should’ve come back later.”

“Joong.” Seonghwa scolds, and Wooyoung just stares at the ground, picking at a loose thread in the blanket he’s expertly wrapped himself in like a sad burrito. “You know you can talk to us, Wooyoung.”

“It’s been three hundred years, Hwa, he’s not going to crack.” Hongjoong pulls a bag out from the box they carried in, and Wooyoung can’t even bring himself to get excited at the smell of fresh blood like he usually does. Not even the prospect of going to the fridge and not finding five month-stale blood has him happy. “Just let him talk when he’s ready. Where’s Yunho and Mingi?”

“They went to the park.” San stretches and yawns like a cat. “They got tired of watching Wooyoung brood like Edward Cullen.”

“I am not Edward Cullen.” Wooyoung hisses while Seonghwa coughs, poorly covering a snort. Hongjoong, on the other hand, just breaks out in unashamed laughter.

“I will literally open Netflix and make you watch Twilight right now.” San dangles the remote control in front of him. “TV’s right there, Young-ie.”

Wooyoung growls, more aggressively, and San jumps back, fear tinging his features before they settle back into his normal dimpled smile.

“Don’t taunt him, San.” Seonghwa says as he closes the refrigerator they use to stock the blood bags. “Let him sulk like he always does.”

“Is no one the least bit curious?” San pouts as he stalks towards the room he and Wooyoung share. “I’ve known him for two hundred and fifty years, and he won’t tell me anything!” The door slams, and Hongjoong and Seonghwa wince.

“You have to tell us sometime, Wooyoung.” Hongjoong’s behind him, petting the pile of blankets gently. “It must be a sore subject, but if you keep shutting us out, it’s not good either.”

Wooyoung cuddles into the blanket. “I know.” When he looks up, Hongjoong’s standing in front of him, frowning like a disappointed father.

Granted, Hongjoong could technically be the closest thing he’s had to a father figure for a long time. After the, erm, _incident_ , Hongjoong found him lost and confused and crying, and took him in. Even though they looked like they were the same age. Hongjoong was around five hundred years old, and still looking like he was twenty-three. Yet, he raised Wooyoung as a vampire well. But there’s times like these where Wooyoung does _not_ appreciate the pseudo-parenting.

“What.” Wooyoung shies away from that face he knows all too well. 

“It’s not healthy for you to bottle up your feelings.” Hongjoong lectures, and Seonghwa starts laughing.

“Says you, Mr. ‘I don’t have feelings, they disappoint me’.” Seonghwa chides, walking over to rest his chin on Hongjoong’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around the smaller vampire. Wooyoung feels a burst of uncalled-for jealousy at the way Hongjoong automatically leans his head against the elder’s.

He lost his chance at a relationship like theirs a long time ago.

“Shut up, Hwa.” Hongjoong says with a tone that indicates no threat. Seonghwa just chuckles and kisses Hongjoong’s cheek.

“I’m gonna fucking vomit.” Wooyoung whines dramatically to try and draw the conversation away from him. “You both are _disgusting_.”

“Uh huh.” Seonghwa tilts his head, smiling. “Why don’t you talk when you finally find your life mate?”

  
  
It shouldn’t have set off Wooyoung as much as it did. Seonghwa didn’t say it to be purposely mean, but it broke open a long-ignored wound in Wooyoung’s not-beating heart.

Wooyoung’s eyes flash red and the two elders back up, looking confused and suddenly cautious.

As they should. If they weren’t his sorta-kinda parents (and also much stronger vampires), he would’ve ripped them to shreds.

The only person he would have ever wanted as a life mate was dead. And had been for three hundred years.

“Shut up! Like you know anything!” He spits, tearing out of his blanket burrito to the surprise of Hongjoong and Seonghwa.

“Wooyoung, wait-”

He doesn’t listen, and instead nearly rips off the doorknob of Yunho and Mingi’s shared room as he storms inside, slamming the door so hard the room shakes a bit.

Throwing himself on Yunho’s bed, he buries his face in the pillow that smells like the weird minty cologne Yunho uses for some reason. (“It’s not because Mingi likes it, I swear.” Yunho said as Mingi was very obviously tucking his head into Yunho’s neck for that exact reason.)

Vampires don’t have to sleep, but Wooyoung shuts his eyes anyways, exhaling a long sigh.

If he sleeps, he can escape the wrath of the two elder vampires for breaking the rule of “don’t slam things because you’re stronger than you think.” He can only pray the door is still somewhat attached to its hinges.

But then he hears it crash, and Wooyoung quickly forces himself to fall asleep.

\------

Wooyoung met Yeosang when they were three years old in the same village in the kingdom of Joseon.

Yeah he’s that old, sue him.

Their families were friends before their birth, and when they were old enough, they were introduced as playmates for each other. And they were a pair that worked unusually well together.

Yeosang was quiet and reserved, where Wooyoung was loud and outspoken. And yet, Yeosang was the one who could calm Wooyoung down when he got angry, and Wooyoung was the one who encouraged Yeosang to speak up whenever people argued with him about the prices of the wares his family sold.

But, it’s not like they didn’t have their fair share of bickering. Wooyoung would gasp in protest whenever someone gushed about how polite and sweet Yeosang was, because huh? That couldn’t be his Yeosang, the one that made sarcastic remarks at everything Wooyoung said, and once swore that he would sell Wooyoung for a singular piece of driftwood.

Yet, they were best friends, and their families deemed them inseparable.

Wooyoung doesn’t remember the exact moment when he fell in love with Yeosang.

It was probably when they turned eighteen.

Yeosang was born earlier than Wooyoung, so when Wooyoung finally turned eighteen, he shoved it in everyone’s faces, especially Yeosang.

_“Congratulations.”_ Yeosang had said with a straight face. _“You’ve finally aged, small one.”_

But the smile Wooyoung got out of him after he declared his offense loudly was worth the teasing.

And that same day, they set out on a journey to the ocean together.

Maybe that’s when he fell in love.

Maybe it was when he watched Yeosang take his long, shiny black hair out of his updo, and let it fall around his shoulders and dance in the gentle ocean breeze. Maybe it was when Yeosang started splashing water at him, telling him to _“stop staring, you’re creepy”_. Or maybe it was when they started a fire on the beach to cook food, and Wooyoung couldn’t stop staring at the way Yeosang’s face looked illuminated by the orange flames.

Perhaps eighteen is when he finally realized his feelings.

But he never said anything, for fear of anyone else finding out.

He kept his mouth shut when they returned home, and when Yeosang’s mother said they found a bride for Yeosang. Yeosang’s family was a rather well-off merchant family, of course they would want him to get married to continue their prosperity. He resolved to be complacent about it. But the relief in his heart when Yeosang rejected the proposal showed that he was, in fact, not at all complacent.

And then, two days before Yeosang turned twenty-two on June fifteenth, Wooyoung got turned.

Looking back, he realized he was pretty stupid. He’d been walking home late at night from going swimming in a nearby river with some of the other village boys, when he was grabbed and then bitten.

Wooyoung had only been unconscious for a day, lying amidst the trees before he came to, and he hadn’t realized what happened until he was standing at Yeosang’s door, and the sight of his _human_ best friend made him crave blood.

He doesn’t remember what happened. Yeosang later told him that it was impossible to calm him down until he forced him to get blood from an animal his family had recently killed for meat. He still kind of regrets making his best friend (read: crush) go through that.

But there’s a lot of things he has to regret, he supposes.

For one, he especially regrets letting Yeosang take him to the ocean anyways.

It was their tradition, to be fair. Ever since that fateful trip at eighteen, they went to the ocean for each of their birthdays every year.

Wooyoung was going to decline this year, really. He felt weak, and he and Yeosang were working hard at hiding his new identity from both of their families. Yeosang accompanied Wooyoung when he went to hunt in the woods, and rubbed Wooyoung’s back when he cried about killing the innocent animals.

(He didn’t escape the teasing, though.)

But then the day of Yeosang’s birthday arrived, and of course they held a small party with both families as usual. Wooyoung was going to leave after, when a hand rested on his sleeve.

Turning around, it was Yeosang with his rucksack over his shoulder and a smile on his face.

_“Ready to go?”_ He had asked, in that soft voice Wooyoung adored.

And who was Wooyoung to say no to a Yeosang awash in dying firelight and bright moonlight, hair tied in a braid falling over his right shoulder, the excitement sparkling in his dark eyes, and a big smile on those lips Wooyoung really kind of wanted to kiss?

So he found himself saying, _“Of course.”_

Thankfully, Yeosang didn’t question it when he hastily packed his things in his own bag, giving the excuse that he was too busy to do it the day before. Then they set off, weaving through the forest.

It took about five days to reach the ocean, but it was so incredibly worth it, Wooyoung thought, as he watched Yeosang set his bag down, tear off his outer robe, and run towards the ocean. 

_“Wooyoung! Come on!”_

Yeosang was backlit by the sunrise, the smile on his face brighter than any star. His clothes were unkempt from so many days on the road, and his braid was falling apart. But he still looked so ethereal, and Wooyoung wished he could keep a mental image of this Yeosang for the rest of his life.

So he dropped his bags and his own outer robe, running towards Yeosang and tackling him into the water. 

They wrestled for a bit, and even though Wooyoung had newfound strength (he was excited upon finding that he could break wood with his bare hands and did it for a few miles until Yeosang told him to stop) Yeosang had always been the stronger of the two, so he won, pinning Wooyoung down on the sand right where the tide washed up. 

Or maybe Wooyoung let him win.

He couldn’t move, not only because Yeosang was holding him down, but because that bright smile was still on his face, laughing softly. His hair was soaked, the braid almost falling out, waves of hair slowly coming undone. The birthmark by his right eye was exposed, and Wooyoung wanted to touch it so badly.

It was the perfect opportunity to kiss him.

But when Wooyoung was about to gather up the courage, Yeosang leaned down and kissed him first.

Wooyoung’s mind blanked out, and all he could hear was the rushing of the waves right next to them and the cawing of the seagulls that had just awoken.

Yeosang’s lips were soft and tasted like saltwater, but Wooyoung reached up and hooked his arms around Yeosang’s neck, pulling him down to get their bodies closer.

It’s not like Wooyoung hadn’t imagined kissing him before; it was a recurring thought his brain liked to remind him of when he couldn’t sleep at night. But as they say, the real thing is always better than your imagination. And kissing Yeosang was addicting.

The roaring of the waves was getting louder, or maybe that was Wooyoung’s adrenaline pumping through his veins. Either way, he kept kissing Yeosang, because honestly, why would he ever stop.

What they didn’t notice though, was as they kissed, they were moving. While they were already somewhat a bit submerged in the water, the water line lapping at Wooyoung’s side, the waves continued to draw them in unknowingly. Wooyoung didn’t notice until a particularly strong current pulled him and caught off guard, he slipped out of Yeosang’s arms.

_“Wooyoung!”_

Yeosang tried to grab him, but it was too late. 

A wave crashed over their heads, and they got sucked in.

Everything was pitch black for a while, and Wooyoung tried to frantically feel around for anything solid. When Wooyoung resurfaced, he looked around frantically for his best friend. The shore wasn’t as close as he had thought.

_“Yeosang!”_ He had shouted, doing his best to stay afloat. _“Yeosang, where are you! I swear, come up right now!”_

Vampires can’t drown.

Unfortunately, humans can.

\------

“Wooyoung. Wooyoung-ah.” 

Wooyoung rolls over on the bed.

“San, leave me alone to die.”

“One, this is Yunho. Two, you can’t die, you’re immortal.” He blinks open his eyes to see two people staring down at him.

“Wooden stake me, then.” Wooyoung spits, ignoring the way Mingi rolls his eyes at his dramatic antics.

“I get it, you’re June twentieth-ing.” Yunho says the phrase in a sarcastic tone that makes Wooyoung want to go find San and knee him really hard where it hurts for making up that phrase. “You don’t even need to sleep, dude.”

“Sleep is an enjoyable activity that I still like to do.” Wooyoung mutters.

“Whatever.” Yunho isn’t deterred, and internally Wooyoung curses the pink haired man for being so cheerful. “Mingi and I are going to the beach, wanna come?”

Oh yeah. The beach. Absolutely. The reason why June twentieth is the worst fucking day of the year in Wooyoung’s eyes.

“No.” He says, smashing his face back into the pillow. He can do this as long as he likes, he doesn’t need to breathe.

“No, you owe us a new door and Hongjoong and Seonghwa are currently out buying a new one.” Mingi says, and Wooyoung winces as he remembers slamming the door. “So if you want to escape their wrath, come with us. This is us saving you.”

“Wow, I’m so grateful.” Wooyoung deadpans. “Kudos to you.”

Yunho sighs heavily. “Just come with us. San is coming too, maybe you two can make up over whatever stupid fight you guys had again.”

San and Wooyoung always get into fights. From day one when Seonghwa brought newly-turned vampire San to their home, they were always getting into unnecessary arguments. Even though they became rather close, bickering was like second nature to them.

(It reminds of him of Yeosang, unfortunately.)

Eventually, Yunho picks Wooyoung up and throws him over his shoulder, smirking as Wooyoung kicks and screams bloody murder.

It’s useless.

“So you’ve come.” San’s grin is cocky as they walk towards the beach. Their current residence is Busan, which means the beach is somewhat within walking distance.

“Shut the fuck.” Wooyoung grumbles, shoving his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. If he’s going to mope, he’s going to do it properly in his favorite red sweatshirt. 

“Hey, I’m sorry.” San tugs him to his side and when Wooyoung looks, his eyes are sincere. “I don’t know what June twentieth means to you. And I’m sorry for making fun of it, that was a dick move. If you want to talk, I’m here for you.”

To San’s surprise, Wooyoung punches him in the arm. “Yah, you don’t have to apologize. I was an asshole earlier too.” He pauses. “June twentieth is a...bad day, I guess.”

“Look at that, reconciliation.” Yunho says dryly from up ahead, and the two younger vampires share a look, grin, and run to tackle Yunho. “Gah!”

“I’m never going to be nice to San ever again.” Wooyoung declares as he clings to Yunho’s back.

“And I’m going to continue stealing Wooyoung’s Lucky Charms that he thinks he hid in the third cabinet.”

“...What.”

Mingi manages to pull them apart before they reach the boating docks. It’s summer, so there’s fisherman hanging around the docks and children running around the area. 

They go to an empty dock, isolated from the others, where all the boats there have left. 

“It’s pretty.” Wooyoung comments as he sits on the edge of the dock, swinging his legs.

“Aren’t you so glad you came outside?” Mingi taunts, and Wooyoung blows a raspberry at him.

Yunho brought them snacks, and Wooyoung showers praises on his hyung as he reaches around to steal a bag of cookies from behind the taller. Yunho just shakes his head in disappointment as Wooyoung cackles eating his chocolate chip cookies.

It goes like that for a while, chatting about anything (especially Wooyoung’s payment for the broken door) and the sun shines brightly, the ocean breeze threading through their hair.

But as Wooyoung lunges to steal a Dorito out of Mingi’s hand, something grabs his ankle, and he splashes into the water.

“Wooyoung!” He hears San shout, but that’s replaced by the bubbling of water as a hand wrapped tightly around his wrist drags him lower and lower.

What the fuck was happening?

He tries to make out the shape dragging him, it’s humanoid but he can’t tell anything else.

Oh God. Hongjoong and Seonghwa are going to kill him dead if this creature doesn’t do it first.

He tried to wrestle out of the creature’s grip, but it only holds tighter until he feels fingernails pierce his skin. Wooyoung grimaces, thrashing around, but it’s no use.

“Hey!” He hears the creature call, and they stop. Around them is the expanse of deep blue sea, and Wooyoung would be lying if he wasn’t a bit terrified. “I brought something back!”

“Is it dead already?” A voice says, and a chill crawls up Wooyoung’s spine at the familiarity of the voice.

No way.

“It should be. Probably lost air a while back.” The creature’s grip loosens, and Wooyoung takes that opportunity to rush forward and punch. But the water slows him down, and the creature easily snatches him and before he knows it, a knife is at his neck.

But in front of him, is his best friend.

He’s died right? Died and gone to heaven? Because there is no way Yeosang is alive and breathing in front of him.

He’s alive, right?

“Y-Yeosang?” He stammers, but the words that leave his mouth are only gurgles of water.

Yeosang looks even more beautiful than he did before his death (?). His hair is cropped short and is no longer black, it’s a platinum blonde that floats in a wispy halo around his head. But it’s not the hair that surprises him. 

It’s the tail.

Where Yeosang’s legs should be, there’s instead a long shimmery dark blue tail with translucent fins at the end. It shines in the sunlight that filters through the ocean’s surface. There’s also fins where his ears should be, the same dark blue color. Dark blue scales litter his pale arms and chest, and Wooyoung’s mind clicks.

He tries to get the words out, but Yeosang shakes his head, obviously shocked as well.

“Jongho, let him go.”

“Why?” The siren behind him says. “Do you know him?”  
  


Yeosang nods, eyes still big in confusion, and Jongho lets him go, so he floats momentarily between them before sinking. His eyes widen, but before he can claw back to the surface, Yeosang swims forward and catches him, pressing him against his chest.

Wooyoung blinks. This is the closest he’s been to Yeosang since that time three hundred years ago…

Yeosang seems to be thinking the same thing, and a light pink spreads over his cheeks and neck. “Let’s get you back to surface.” He says softly, and he swims back in the direction Jongho brought him.

He’s fast, and before Wooyoung knows it, they’re back at the pier. When they break the surface, San is there, peering over the edge. The brown haired vampire jumps back and screams. 

“WOOYOUNG?!”

At the scream, Wooyoung winces and soon, Yunho and Mingi’s heads appear.

“Jung Wooyoung!” Yunho points an accusing finger. “You had us all fucking scared! What the fuck dude, don’t do that!”

Yeosang chuckles from behind him, and Wooyoung lowers his head.

Just then, the three vampires noticed the newcomers.

“Who...are they?” Mingi blinks, raising a shaking finger to point at Yeosang, and presumably Jongho.

Wooyoung turns around, and faces Yeosang. His words almost falter, because Yeosang is just as gorgeous out of water as he is below water. His scales shine in the sunlight, and his eyes are big with worry and apprehension.

“Can we talk?” Wooyoung manages to choke out, coughing water out of his non-working lungs. But also, at the nervousness of talking to someone he thought was _dead_.

For a moment, Yeosang looks like he might decline, but he slowly nods.

Yunho and Mingi hoist him out of the water, and Wooyoung’s sweatshirt is waterlogged, but he doesn’t want to take it off. Because that’d be kind of weird considering the man he’s been mourning and pining for is right there.

So he sits cross-legged at the end of the dock, and Yeosang swims closer so that they can see each other. Yunho, Mingi, and San are occupied talking to the other siren further down the dock, and Wooyoung can only hope Mingi doesn’t get his hand chomped on or something because he looks way too excited talking to Jongho, who simply looks amused.

It’s silent, because neither of them know what to say. _“Hey so last time I saw you, one of us died”_? Yeah, no.

They speak at the same time.

“Hey, so-“

“Do you-“

Both of them stop, and Yeosang giggles, the sweet, demure sound going straight to Wooyoung’s already shattered heart.

He never thought he’d get to hear Yeosang laugh again.

Wooyoung clears his throat. “So, you’re a-“

“Siren.” Yeosang looks self-conscious, and picks at the scales on his hand. “Yeah. I’m a siren.”

“How?” Wooyoung asks, his voice high. Level head, he has to keep a level head. He manages to get his voice down. “Yeosang, you were gone. I never saw you come back up.”

“I was saved.” Yeosang says quietly. “Another siren saved me by turning me.”

“You could have let me know!” Wooyoung knows that sounds selfish, but it’s true. He stayed around the beach for a week, hoping, praying that Yeosang would show. Then out of defeat, he stumbled back into the woods, hungry and lost and angry and sad and borderline insane, and ran into Hongjoong, who saved him.

“I’m sorry.” Yeosang is still picking. “I’m sorry, Wooyoung.” 

“We held a funeral for you.” Wooyoung doesn’t want to cry. (Yeah, unfortunately he can still cry.) “Your parents were devastated, Yeosang.”

“I know!” Yeosang cries, the fins on his head curling in as if they didn’t want to hear it. Wooyoung’s heart twists. “I know and I’m so sorry, Wooyoung. It was my fault, I shouldn’t have…”

He trails off.

Logically, the next words were “kissed you”. “I shouldn’t have kissed you.” And for some reason, that made Wooyoung’s blood boil.

“Shouldn’t have what?” He demands and Yeosang looks away at the shimmering surface of the water. “Shouldn’t have kissed me?” 

“What! No!” Yeosang immediately backtracks. “No, Wooyoung, God, no.”

“Then what?” Wooyoung huffs, aggravated. He can feel tears burning his eyes. “Then what, Yeosang? Did you want me to push you away?”

“No!” Yeosang scrambles. “Wooyoung, I-“

“It’s been three hundred years!” Wooyoung doesn’t care if the others can hear him. “Yeosang, it has been three hundred years since I last saw you and you don’t think I’m not still in love with you?”

Yeosang’s eyes widen. “Wooyoung, what-“

Wooyoung doesn’t even care that he’s crying now. “Three hundred fucking years, Yeosang! And I’m still so hopelessly fucking in love with you, have been ever since we were eighteen. And every year, I have to suffer through your birthday, because I have to think about what happened. And you don’t think I wanted to bring you back so badly, just to maybe tell you how I felt for one second?!”

There’s tears brimming like diamonds in Yeosang’s eyes and Wooyoung stops, breathing heavily (even though he technically doesn’t breathe). He lowers his voice. “So go ahead, tell me that kiss was a mistake, so I can stop overthinking it every fucking year. Yeosang, I missed you so goddamn _much_.”

Yeosang’s mouth is open in a small ‘o’ from Wooyoung’s outburst, and it’s a few moments of silence and Wooyoung’s choked sobs before he speaks.

“Wooyoung...how do you think I felt these past three hundred years? Not knowing if you were dead or alive, not being able to know because I had no way of contacting you. I’ve spent this entire lifetime trying to search for you, to somehow just let you know I was alive. But not once, in these three hundred years, did I ever regret kissing you.” He smiles sadly. “So how do you think I felt about losing you?”

It strikes. Hits right where it hurts. Wooyoung knows he sounded narcissistic. And sometimes, he laid awake at night wondering if Yeosang had felt the same way, or if he regretted it all entirely. Granted, he had thought Yeosang dead, but like, maybe in the afterlife.

Wooyoung lifts his soaked sweatshirt up, tossing it to the side, and jumps into the water. When he surfaces, he wraps his arms around a shocked Yeosang and hugs him tightly, burying his face into his neck as he cries.

Yeosang’s arms tentatively wrap around him as well and unlike Wooyoung, he cries quietly, drowned out by Wooyoung’s harsh sobs. 

“I’m so sorry, Woo-ah.” He whispers, rubbing Wooyoung’s back not unlike when he first turned and couldn’t stand killing an innocent deer for blood. “I’m so, so sorry.”

Wooyoung pulls back, staring at Yeosang through red-rimmed eyes. His best friend looks distraught, eyes brimming over with tears and his pink lips pursed in an effort to keep it together.

It feels so good, after three hundred years of regret and fear and not knowing if Yeosang was alive or dead. It feels so good to have his best friend here, in the flesh, holding him in the way they used to when they had sleepovers as kids. 

Yeosang had admitted to missing him. Admitted to not regretting the kiss that essentially killed him. So what did Wooyoung have to lose?

“I love you.” He states, and it’s exhilarating to drop those words after three hundred years of “what-ifs” and regrets. “I’m so fucking in love with you. Even if I thought you were dead-“

“Wooyoung, do I look like I’m dead?” One side of Yeosang’s lips curls up into a sarcastic smirk, his right eyebrow raised, and that’s how Wooyoung knows, he’s got his Yeosang back.

“Shut up.” Is all he says before he leans in, sealing those stupid lips with his.

Is this their first kiss? Second first kiss? Yeah, Wooyoung’s going to leave it at that, because kissing Yeosang feels like the first time and the atmosphere of the ocean is very vibe-appropriate. And this time, they don’t have to worry about drowning.

It’s a soft, closed mouth kiss, one Wooyoung intended to just show Yeosang his affection with, but as he pulls away, Yeosang pulls him back in and kisses him deeper.

Maybe it’s because the water is Yeosang’s domain, that he can easily hold Wooyoung up as he kisses him. Or maybe, Wooyoung’s Yeosang-starved brain supplies, maybe he’s stronger now.

“So Wooyoung.” That’s a voice Wooyoung did not want to hear. He pulls away frantically, looking up.

Hongjoong is standing there with his arms crossed, looking both parts amused and displeased. Seonghwa is behind him, wearing the same expression.

“Um.” Wooyoung says. 

Yeosang hides behind Wooyoung, keeping his arms around him to stay afloat, but otherwise hidden.

“So. June twentieth.” Seonghwa starts. “June twentieth, you lost someone.”

Wooyoung nods. “Yeah.”

Seonghwa pushes one hand through his hair. “Ah, seriously, you could have just said that instead of making us all think you committed a murder.”

“What!?” Wooyoung exclaims, scandalized. Behind him, Yeosang laughs quietly. “Hey! Kang Yeosang!”

“Yes?” Yeosang grins when Wooyoung turns around, pouting. It’s the same mischievous grin from three hundred years ago. His Yeosang.

“You’re annoying.”

“Yeah? So are you.”

“Oh my God, is this another Wooyoung and San, God no please.” Mingi moans, burying his face in his hands.

“Shut up Mingi!” San whacks Mingi’s shoulder. Mingi just whimpers more for dramatic effect.

Yeosang just raises an eyebrow and Wooyoung laughs. “I still find you extremely irritating. Like that time you convinced my mom I was the one that kicked the ball into the tree.”

“You were standing the closest to the tree.” Yeosang says as a way of explanation.

“Yah, you little-“

Yeosang kisses him, shutting him up. Above, he hears Seonghwa say, “Looks like we finally found someone who can shut Wooyoung up.”

But Wooyoung doesn’t waste his breath on defending himself. Instead, he kisses Yeosang back, wrapping his arms around his neck just as he did all those years ago.

Yeosang still kisses like the first time they kissed, but Wooyoung loves it. Loves the way Yeosang’s lips hesitantly move against his until he gains confidence and presses closer, attacking Wooyoung’s mouth until he’s breathless. Loves the way Yeosang bites onto the mole on his bottom lip, making him inhale sharply at the feeling.

In all, he loves Yeosang, and he really loves kissing Yeosang.

“Also, your abs look nice.” Yeosang murmurs when they break apart, resting their foreheads together. “Remember when you used to say training was fake?”

“I can use a sword now.” Wooyoung retorts. “Hongjoong took it but I can steal it back.”

“I heard that, you brat!” Hongjoong admonishes from somewhere on the dock.

However, Yeosang only blinks. “Seeing you shirtless and with a sword? I quite like the idea of that.”

“Yah, Kang Yeosang, when did you get so shameless?” Wooyoung teases, poking Yeosang’s cheek. He’s delighted to find that Yeosang’s cheeks are just as soft as they were centuries ago.

Yeosang shrugs. “When I found out the love of my life was still alive.”

Wooyoung’s breath catches in his throat. Yeosang smiles, cocking his head innocently to one side.

“What? It’s true.” He smiles, leaning in to kiss the mole under Wooyoung’s right eye. “I love you.”

Okay. Wooyoung cannot handle this newly confident Yeosang that he had somehow unearthed. 

“I love you more.” He says instead, tracing his fingers over the birthmark by Yeosang’s eye that frankly, he’d always adored. “You can’t beat me.”

Yeosang rolls his eyes. “Fine. I love you even more.”

“Even more than what?” Wooyoung challenges.

His lover blinks, thinking for a moment. “I love you more than your two friends seem to love each other.”

Wooyoung turns to see their friends talking amongst themselves, clearly giving them space. Seonghwa was draped over Hongjoong’s back, their hands entwined and bodies pressed together. 

“They’ve been together for almost four hundred and fifty years, are you sure?” Wooyoung looks back at Yeosang, whose eyes are shining with admiration like Wooyoung was the one who hung the stars in the sky.

And for a second, he’s taken aback.

That Yeosang could love him so easily after three hundred years of separation, telling him that he basically loved him like a life mate. It was overwhelming and at the same time, reassuring.

He presses their foreheads together again, closing his eyes and smiling.

“Alright.”

Eternity is a long time to promise to someone. Since both of them couldn’t easily die, they were in it for the rest of their immortal lives. The prospect of that would terrify most people.

And yet, Wooyoung wouldn’t want it any other way.

“Hey, so if Wooyoung is Edward, does that make Yeosang Bella?”

“Shut _up_ , San!”

**Author's Note:**

> i’m making it canon that yeosang can transform to a human form, but since he was underwater he didn’t see how the world changed, so wooyoung takes him on a date to the city one day and yeosang loves it :)
> 
> twt: @ treasureyeo ,, let’s be friends if ur a woosangist pls :D


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